Ranked #778

Shiki

I've seen my fair share of vampire anime; and I have to say, it was under vast number of genres, as well as themes. Shiki however, pulls you back in to what the traditional myth of vampires; added to it that it's a thriller, it will move anyone who's a vampire fan.


Story: 10
Compared to many other vampire themed animes, such as Blood+, Rosario + Vampire, Vampire Knight, and Trinity blood; this anime comes back to the roots of vampires and their myths. In this anime a town is plagued with death with no reasonable explanation; though thought of a possible epidemic, Doctor Ozaki, the head doctor of his clinic cannot find any actual symptoms of related to any disease, besides Aplastic Anemia, which is the loss of red and white blood cells. As the body count rises, he becomes desperate to find an answer until he comes up to a conclusion, albeit a far fetched one, that it might be a work of Okiagari, or vampires. At first, the anime's plot progression might come up as slow to most people. Even I had a hard time dealing with the first 3 episodes. But it get's really good. The fact that the anime went back to the roots of original vampire myths such as that they can not enter a home until they are invited in, or that they might be able to die if stabbed with a stake at the heart, and the fact that they are UNDEAD; just including those classic myths already got me hooked. This anime has definitely gave back the respect of vampires that Twilight has taken away. And contrast to the other animes I've mentioned, very little gore is shown.


Art: 7
The lines were sharp, and the colors were almost fluorescent. The art of the animation just didn't look like it fits with a subtle setting and plot like that. Not to mention the crazy hairstyles that almost every relevant character had. The animation would be more fit for shounen anime in my opinion.


Sound: 9
The OP got me the first time. It was almost celtic, and goes perfectly with the whole theme. The BGM, it was not intrusive, but yet it'll make you want to jump at times; some even sound like something out of the catholic church, which is awesome due to the ties of religion to vampires;the good thing about it is that they also barely use BGM. The ED is that like something off a romance anime though, but once you get to the later episodes, you will figure out why.


Characters: 8
There were really only 4 main characters in the anime. However, you will definitely tell that EVERYONE is important, even the dead ones. As much as that's a good thing, the downside is that no one really has any room to grow. The viewer really can't see if there is any character progression. However, that really isn't necessary due to the big-picture nature of the plot.


Enjoyment: 9
Like I said in the Story section, it is at first slow, but as the people die, and the vamipres close in to the main characters, it becomes a classic thriller. At one point I actually jumped off my seat. This take on the classic vampire is really something that needed to be done.


Overall: 9

Basically, if you hate twilight, you would love this. It puts back the vampire's reputation of being mysterious, scary, and are considered "monsters". It went back to the classics of vampire myths, and made it work quite well. I really do hope that this anime becomes a classic; in case everyone needs to refresh that vampire actually DIE under the sun, and not sparkle like a disco ball.


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First three episodes of the show will get you wondering as to what's really happening to the village and it's inhabitants that are dying one by one, with no hint at all as why such disease that resembles "Anemia" was turning into a widespread epidemic throughout the village when victims show no signs of internal or external bleeding at all.

But I have to say, for anyone who's actually seen or read either Bram Stoker's certain novel or Fright Night, By Episode 3, you should now be aware of what's going on.

This is probably one of the only firsts in Japanese anime & manga wherein the contents of the story are actually quite accurate to it's reference, Vampires not being sparkly as twilight or as godlike as hellsing, but vampires that actually go by the actual vampire myth, first one would have to be this:
"Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner, although after the first invitation they can come and go as they please."
-Vampire, Wikipedia.org

More polished than Higurashi, which had a similar setting, this is quite a good show. Overall I'm quite impressed with the author's ability to go by the whole myth regarding vampire myth without twisting anything at all, regardless, I would've given this anime a 10 if only Stephen King's 'Salem's lot didn't do it first.


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